15 July 2022

The Akademie der Künste calls for the release of filmmakers Mohammad Rasoulof, Mostafa Al-Ahmad and Jafar Panahi

The Akademie der Künste is deeply concerned about the recent wave of repression in Iran. It is protesting against the arrest of filmmakers Mohammad Rasoulof, Mostafa Al-Ahmad and, most recently, Jafar Panahi.

With his film There Is No Evil, Mohammad Rasoulof won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in 2020. Jafar Panahi received the award for Taxi Tehran in 2015.

The arrests of the three film directors are an assault on the freedom of art. Together with the Berlinale, the Cannes Film Festival and the European Film Academy, the Akademie der Künste calls on the Iranian authorities to release the three filmmakers immediately.